3 minute read
Sam Kerr is ready to deliver a fitting finale to her dazzling season for Chelsea by joining an elite band of Champions League-winning Australians.
After the strangest of seasons, played in the teeth of a pandemic thousands of miles from her home, Sam Kerr has demonstrated real resilience to accompany the brilliance.
Now, the Matildas captain, already champion of England and the Golden Boot winner as the Women's Super League top scorer, is ready to seal her landmark campaign by helping shoot Chelsea to the biggest club trophy of all - the Champions League.
Not many Australians have been where Kerr will be in Gothenburg on Sunday when she lines up in the final of Europe's biggest club match against Barcelona.
Fellow Matilda Ellie Carpenter was part of the Lyon side that won the trophy last year but, as an unused substitute, she didn't see any action in the final victory over Wolfsburg.
But Kerr, the London club's goalscoring spearhead, is key to Chelsea's hopes and hoping to go one better than her national teammate by playing from the start in the Ullevi Stadium in pursuit of a potential "dream come true."
She believes Chelsea will prevail because of the unbreakable bond that has developed between the squad.
"People are calling us the mentality monsters and I believe it," Kerr told the Guardian newspaper this week.
"Because sometimes we're down and out and this team goes up another gear. Not many teams can do that.
"It hasn't been easy. We've fought our way back into so many games.
"This team performs better when we're under pressure.
"(Reaching the final) it's just a reward for all the sacrifices we made.
"You can either become closer or you can start not wanting to be around each other - and it's definitely made us closer.
"We've all spent so much time together and leant on each other at different times. Everyone's so caring and so selfless. It's just been like a huge bond has been made."
Manager Emma Hayes has constantly praised Kerr at the business end of this season as she's effectively become her goal-a-game striker, with 21 in 22 WSL matches and a total of 27 in all competitions.
"It's not bad, not bad," Kerr said of her marksmanship, while shrugging that it was just her job.
"It's one of those things that's a good individual achievement but if I can help my team win titles that's the main thing."
On the eve of the match on Saturday, 44-year-old manager Hayes, who was assistant at Arsenal when they won the Champions League 14 years ago, sounded relaxed as she insisted her side would give everything and that it was "just another game" to her.
"When I say that, it's because I treat every game like the Champions League final. So for me, it's no different," she said.
Barcelona, who also have a domestic league title and cup in the bag this term, have enjoyed a record in Spain this term that's even more remarkable than Chelsea's in England as they've scored 128 goals while conceding only five in 26 matches.
